Jaundice is commonly identified as the yellowish tinge of the skin, mucous membrane, and whites’ eyes. This discoloration of the skin happens due to bilirubin, a waste material found in your blood. Other indications of jaundice include nausea and vomiting, fever, weakness, headache, loss of appetite and abdominal pain, etc.
Primarily, jaundice is associated with the functioning of the liver. Normally your liver metabolizes and excretes the bilirubin from your body. Whenever this normal metabolism is disrupted, the level of bilirubin is increased, resulting in jaundice. Understanding the underlying cause of the disease is always helpful in treating it effectively.
Jaundice occurs at three levels. Pre-hepatic jaundice occurs due to excessive breakdown and destruction of blood cells. It overwhelms the liver’s capability to remove the increased bilirubin from the blood sufficiently. Hepatic jaundice is caused when the liver cannot function properly and does not take out the waste as it should be. Post-hepatic or obstructive jaundice is when some of the bilirubin’s normal drainages are obstructed for some reason. Apart from this, jaundice also affects newborns just after birth or due to breastfeeding.
Jaundice is directly connected to the liver and leads to serious complications. It is important to get it treated with a specialist. Dr. Piyush Ranjan is a renowned gastroenterologist in Delhi with over 15 years of experience. He treats his patients with compassion and also provides after-care guidance for rapid recovery.
Dr. Piyush Ranjan, a distinguished Gastroenterologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi has done his medical schooling from Maulana Azad Medical College New Delhi and subsequent training in Gastroenterology from SGPGI, Lucknow in 2003.
